Wisconsin lawmakers differ on securing their own Obamacare plans

Dec. 11, 2013

File/Bloomberg

Written by

Donovan Slack

Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation have taken varying approaches to securing their own health insurance under Obamacare, with some purchasing plans on online marketplaces and others finding alternatives.

At least two got hung up by technical problems, much like many other Wisconsinites trying to sign up on healthcare.gov. Republican Reps. Sean Duffy of Wausau and Paul Ryan of Janesville said they tried repeatedly to sign up for plans through DC Health Link, the exchange set up by the District of Columbia.

Duffy is still not signed up and asked congressional administrators for help, an aide said. Ryan ultimately succeeded. Although it’s fair to say he’s not happy about it.

“When determining the status of health benefits for his family and his staff, Congressman Ryan is following the law. As a result, Congressman Ryan, his personal-office staff, and his family — like many Wisconsin families — are losing their current plans and entering an Obamacare exchange,” said spokesman Kevin Seifert.

The law bars members of Congress from remaining insured through the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, which covers federal employees. As a result, the lawmakers had to find private coverage on one of the online exchanges or find alternate insurance. Their deadline for making a decision was Monday night.

Others who successfully signed up on the DC health exchange include Madison Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Republican Rep. Reid Ribble of Sherwood, Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan of Madison and Gwen Moore of Milwaukee. None of Wisconsin’s lawmakers said exactly how much their premiums are going to be or which plans they picked, or whether they are paying more or less than they were before.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson decided to go the private route.

“Senator Johnson plans to purchase health insurance through private health carriers in Wisconsin,” spokeswoman Melinda Schnell said. “He does not intend to utilize the government exchanges in Washington, D.C., for a variety of reasons. The lack of security for personal information is a primary cause of concern as it should be for every American.”

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Republican Rep. Tom Petri of Fond du Lac also elected not to use the exchanges. The 73-year-old lawmaker is going to enroll in additional Medicare coverage instead because he wants to have the same experience as his constituents.

“Sixth district residents would use the Wisconsin exchange but I am unable to get insurance through the state exchange because I have Medicare Part A,” he said. “Since I am eligible for Medicare, most people I represent in the same situation would enroll in Medicare, so that is what I’m doing.”

How the Affordable Care Act affects members of Congress and their staffs has been a source of controversy over the last three years. Rather than exempt them from the law, as some have claimed, Congress intentionally made sure the law would affect lawmakers and their official aides even more directly. It requires them to give up their coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program and to shop for coverage on the marketplaces.

Wisconsin enrollment in the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov, quadrupled in the second month of its operation, shooting from 877 people in October to 4,426 in November, according to the tallies released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Obama administration said the enrollment jump reflects improvements to the glitch-ridden federal web site, and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urged more people to visit and buy insurance now that it’s running more smoothly.

“Evidence of the technical improvements to healthcare.gov can be seen in the enrollment numbers,” she said in a statement.

But the numbers are still far shy of expectations. In Wisconsin, an estimated 550,000 people were uninsured before the health care law took effect and the hope was that 277,000 of them would buy coverage under the law.

The deadline to sign up for coverage beginning Jan. 1 is Dec 23, and enrollment will close on March 31.

Gannett Wisconsin Media reported Sunday that pages on the website are downloading faster and customer service representatives on web chat or the phone are better informed, but there is still much work to be done.

In the two months after the website opened on Oct. 1, a total of 47,173 Wisconsinites filled out applications on the site for a total of 85,863 individuals, according to HHS. Of those individuals, 50,733 were determined eligible to buy insurance through the site and 24,140 of were found eligible for federal subsidies to pay for the insurance.

Across the nation, including states which are running their own websites, the agency said 1.8 million people have completed applications while about 365,000 have selected plans.

“We invite those Americans whose experiences with healthcare.gov have been frustrating to them so far to come back and try again,” Michael Hash, director of HHS’s Office of Health Reform, said. “The healthcare.gov web site is night and day from where it was on Oct. 1.”